Church launches ‘oldest wedding dress’ appeal – and it could be one made from a silk parachute canopy!
A search is on for the oldest surviving wedding dress in the parish of the Upper Skerne which includes the villages of Sedgefield, Fishburn, the Trimdons and Bishop Middleham.
It will become the centre piece of a ‘Weddings Then and Now’ exhibition at St Michael’s Church, Bishop Middleham, on Saturday, May 12, between 11am and 4pm, which will feature orig
inal bride and bridegroom wedding outfits, wedding memorabilia and photographs.
Team Vicar Michael Thompson said this week: “We are looking for dresses from across the decades and there will be a prize for the oldest one we discover. We’d also welcome the loan of a tailor’s dummy or a mannequin to display the dress”.
The appeal has already produced dresses from the late 1940s to the modern day (the oldest so far is one from 1949 which was made from the silk of a parachute canopy).
“We’d love to find one even older than that”, said Michael (pictured).
The exhibition will include wedding texts, poems and written anecdotes about specific weddings and wedding traditions, floral arrangements, stands from local wedding services, activities and crafts as well as refreshments – including wedding cake.”
Entry is free but donations are being invited for St Michael’s Boiler Fund.
Further information is available at thenandnow@talktalk.net or by calling 01740 654966.
Related articles:
Wedding Dress Returns To Church After 69 Years
Wedding Exhibition exceeds all expectations
Article courtesy of Ron Eyley
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Page added 12th April 2018